Florida Judge Clears Pathway for Possible Lawsuit Against University of Florida

Florida Judge Monica Brasington refused to dismiss a potential class-action lawsuit against the University of Florida which says the school should refund the fees to students who were forced to study from home during the COVID-induced school year.

If it is considered a class action lawsuit, then Anthony Rojas’ lawsuit against the university, would likely affect tens of thousands of students who were forced to study and learn from home when the university shut campus down during the pandemic.

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Ohio Introduces New Coronavirus Guidelines as the State Sees the Number of COVID-19 Cases Go Over 90,000

Governor Mike DeWine has issued several new recommendations in the wake of an uptick in coronavirus cases.

The number of coronavirus cases in Ohio has recently gone over 90,000 and almost 3,500 people have died, according to The COVID Tracking Project. Thirteen Ohio counties are under the Level Three Public Health Emergency. Level Three means that a county has “very high expose and spread” of the coronavirus.

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Gov. DeWine Calls on Regulators to Enact a ‘Last Call’ Emergency Law

  Ohio Governor Mike DeWine asked the Ohio Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) to enact an emergency law instituting a 10p.m. “last call” for bars and restaurants across the state. At a press conference today The Governor said that the emergency law would allow for patrons to place a final drink order at 10 p.m. and continue drinking until 11 p.m. The governor went on to say “We have to slow the spread of the virus, and we have to slow the spread across the state of Ohio.” The governor took to Twitter to address fears that Ohio would be shutting down it’s bars and restaurants. This rule would prevent the sale of alcohol at all liquor-permitted establishments beginning at 10 p.m. each night. Consumption of alcohol must end by 11:00 p.m. — Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) July 30, 2020 The state’s capital Columbus recently passed a similar city-wide ordinance. Shortly after the ordinance passed, Franklin County Judge Mark Serott granted a temporary restraining order barring enforcement of the policy. The order, which was granted on behalf of a number of local restaurants, is good for 14 days, at which point a new hearing will need to be scheduled. Columbus Health…

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#FreeTN Rallies Sunday for Freedom From Nashville’s Shutdown and No Further Shutdowns

#FreeTN has scheduled a rally for Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. at Nashville’s Historic Courthouse/City Hall calling for freedom from the remnants of Nashville’s COVID-19 shutdown and demanding that the city never shut down again.

The day also marks the annual celebration of the official adoption of the “Stars and Stripes” American flag by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777.

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Mayor Calls on Walz to Immediately Reopen Greater Minnesota Businesses

A mayor in Greater Minnesota called for immediately reopening businesses in his region in a letter sent Monday to Gov. Tim Walz.

Cambridge Mayor James Godfrey pointed to the “significant difference” in the spread of the coronavirus in rural Minnesota compared to the Metro area. Cambridge is located in Isanti County, which had just 20 confirmed cases and zero deaths as of Wednesday.

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Minnesota Churches, Business Owners File Second Lawsuit Against Walz’s ‘Draconian’ Shutdown Orders

A second lawsuit was filed Wednesday against Gov. Tim Walz on behalf of multiple Minnesota churches and small business owners.

The complaint asks the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota to strike down Walz’s emergency executive orders issued during the coronavirus pandemic as unconstitutional under the First, Fifth, and 14th Amendments.

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STUDY: Anxiety From Reactions to COVID-19 Will Destroy at Least Seven Times More Years of Life Than Can Be Saved by Lockdowns

One of the most important principles of epidemiology is weighing benefits and harms. A failure to do this can make virtually any medical treatment seem helpful or destructive. In the words of Ronald C. Kessler of the Harvard Medical School and healthcare economist Paul E. Greenberg, “medical interventions are appropriate only if their expected benefits clearly exceed the sum of their direct costs and their expected risks.”

Likewise, a 2020 paper about quarantines published in The Lancet states: “Separation from loved ones, the loss of freedom, uncertainty over disease status, and boredom can, on occasion, create dramatic effects. Suicide has been reported, substantial anger generated, and lawsuits brought following the imposition of quarantine in previous outbreaks. The potential benefits of mandatory mass quarantine need to be weighed carefully against the possible psychological costs.”

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Senate Candidate Jason Lewis Launches ‘Reopen Minnesota for Business’ RV Tour

U.S. Senate candidate Jason Lewis announced last week that he will be embarking on a “Reopen Minnesota for Business” RV tour in protest of the economic shutdown imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Lewis’ campaign said the tour began Friday with select stops in the Metro area. The former congressman said he plans to meet with small business owners impacted by the coronavirus shutdown throughout the course of the tour.

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Model Lowers Projected Tennessee Coronavirus Deaths by More Than 2,000

A popular coronavirus model has lowered its total projected deaths for Tennessee by more than 2,000 since Gov. Bill Lee announced a statewide shelter-in-place order.

As of April 2, the University of Washington Institute for Health and Metrics Evaluation (IHME) predicted that Tennessee would have 3,259 deaths over the next four months. The IHME model estimated that the virus would reach its peak in the state on April 20 and would result in 159 fatalities in a single day.

The model now predicts that Tennessee will experience 584 COVID-19 deaths over the next four months – a drop of 2,675 projected deaths since last week. On Sunday, the model was predicting 1,000-plus deaths in Tennessee.

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Gov. DeWine Lengthens Ohio’s Stay-at-Home Order Until May 1

  Gov. Mike DeWine announced Thursday he will extended – both in duration and scope – Ohio’s “Stay-at-Home” Order until May 1. The original order was set to expire on Monday, April 6.. Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton signed the updated order on Thursday. The new stay-at-home measure will take effect midnight on Monday. “We understand that this is tough – it is very difficult. But, I would not be making these decisions if it wasn’t a matter of life and death,” said Governor DeWine. “We have to keep this monster down. It’s not dead – it’s very much alive.”  Ohio is one of 38 states that are currently on a stay-at-home order, according to The Hill.  DeWine has been one of the most aggressive governors in combating the Chinese virus. In March, the governor closed down schools, banned mass gatherings, shut down restaurants and delayed Ohio’s presidential primary.  With the stay-at-home order extension, unemployment numbers will likely increase during April. In the last two weeks, 468,414 Ohioans have filed for unemployment benefits, which is more than all of the 364,603 jobless claims that happened in 2019. To help Ohioans through the coronavirus pandemic, DeWine created an economic…

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Governor Lee Issues Executive Order Requiring Residents to Stay Home

Gov. Bill Lee announced Thursday that he will sign an executive order requiring Tennesseans to stay home unless they are engaging in essential activities.

Lee issued an executive order Monday that urged, but didn’t require, residents to stay at home to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Under his new order, staying at home isn’t “an option – it’s a requirement for the swift defeat of COVID-19,” said Lee.

The governor said data from the Tennessee Department of Transportation indicated that travel started trending upwards again on March 30 after traffic patterns showed a steep drop-off in vehicle movement between March 13 and 29.

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Thirty States Have Issued Stay-at-Home Orders So Far

As of March 31, 30 of the 50 states have issued stay-at-home orders to residents. Although the names of the orders – shelter-in-place, stay-at-home, stay home, stay safe – vary from state to state, they include at least two common elements: the closure of nonessential businesses and requesting all residents to stay home except for essential trips.

California was the first state to issue a stay-at-home order. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) did so on March 19. In total, 19 Democratic governors and 11 Republican governors have issued stay-at-home orders. Across all 50 states, there are 24 Democratic and 26 Republican governors.

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Shelter in Place Order Now in Effect in Minnesota: Here’s What You Need to Know

Gov. Tim Walz has issued a statewide shelter-in-place order for Minnesota to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The order took effect Friday at midnight and will remain in effect until 5:00 p.m. on April 10. As opposed to a complete lockdown, a shelter-in-place order still allows for many everyday activities and permits numerous industries to continuing working.

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